awards & nominations

The death and funeral of their father brings three sisters to the home of their mother, Violet (Meryl Streep), an acid-tongued, pill-popping cancer patient. Daughters Barbara (Julia Roberts), Karen (Juliette Lewis) and Ivy (Julianne Nicholson) -- along with their significant others and various other kin -- take the full brunt of their dysfunctional matriarch's venom, for Violet tells every one of them exactly what she thinks of them. Based on the play by Tracy Letts.

The Hoover family -- a man (Greg Kinnear), his wife (Toni Collette), an uncle (Steve Carell), a brother (Paul Dano) and a grandfather (Alan Arkin) -- puts the fun back in dysfunctional by piling into a VW bus and heading to California to support a daughter (Abigail Breslin) in her bid to win the Little Miss Sunshine Contest. The sanity of everyone involved is stretched to the limit as the group's quirks cause epic problems as they travel along their interstate route.